In India, three things are very popular – movies, politics and cricket. So it’s not implausible for the three to get mixed up at some point of time or the other.

In the assembly elections conducted a week back, many popular movie stars and cricketers contested for a seat, giving experienced politicians a run for their money. In West Bengal, Rupa Ganguly was contesting from North Howrah constituency on behalf of BJP, while her opponent is former cricketer Laxmi Ratan Shukla. Actress Locket Chatterjee was contesting from Mayureswar, while Joy Banerjee and Suman Banerjee were asking for votes from from Suri and English Bazar in Malda.

In Kerala, friends turned political foes as KB Ganesh Kumar (LDF), Jagadish (UDF) and Bheeman Raghu (BJP) are contesting from the same place – Pathanapuram. KB Ganesh Kumar is already a veteran in politics, compared to the other two, as he had previously contested and won for hsi seat when he was with UDF. There was also a controversy with regard to his electoral strategy, when superstar Mohanlal attended his rally, causing few members of the film industry, especially Salim Kumar and Jagdish, to cry foul.

Another actor who is contesting the elections from Kollam this year is popular actor Mukesh, known for his roles in Ramji Rao Speaking, Godfather, In Harihar Nagar etc. Former cricketer S. Sreesanth will be contesting on a BJP ticket from the Thiruvananthapuram constituency

So who will win when the results are out today? Just wait and watch…

]]>http://www.bollywoodlife.com/news-gossip/live-assembly-election-results-2016-rupa-ganguly-mukesh-s-sreesanth-jagadish-will-they-score-or-will-they-bite-the-dust/feed/0Cabaret First Look: Richa Chadda’s SENSUOUS avatar will take you back to the swinging sixties!http://www.bollywoodlife.com/news-gossip/cabaret-first-look-richa-chaddas-sensuous-avatar-will-take-you-back-to-the-swinging-sixties/
http://www.bollywoodlife.com/news-gossip/cabaret-first-look-richa-chaddas-sensuous-avatar-will-take-you-back-to-the-swinging-sixties/#respondThu, 24 Mar 2016 15:45:17 +0000http://www.bollywoodlife.com/?p=690577The Gangs of Wasseypur actress spells yesteryear glamour in the poster

Richa Chadda is on a roll. The actress who has wowed audiences and critics with films like Gangs of Wasseypur and Masaan is back with Cabaret. The lissome actress will be seen in a never-seen-before avatar in the film. Cabaret will showcase Richa’s bold and glamorous side and this poster is a fine example of what to expect from the film.

We see Richa in a black outfit with a sequined bodice. She has teamed it with a leotard inside and killer heels. With streaked wavy hair, dark lips and a seductive glance, the actress sets temperatures soaring. She is shown sitting on a huge disco ball, which was a must-have in the Bollywood films of the 60s and 70s.

Cabaret has Gulshan Devaiah and S Sreesanth with Richa. The ex-cricketer will be seen in the role of Richa’s dance guru. The film is reportedly inspired by the life of India’s cabaret queen, Helen. It is produced by Pooja Bhatt and Bhushan Kumar. The project is helmed by Kaustav Narayan Niyogi.

This is the first time we will see Richa is such a bold and daring look. The actress has played strong roles so far in her career but this is totally glamorous. The teaser of the film will be out tomorrow. We are sure fans of the actress can’t wait to see Richa burn the dance floor.

]]>http://www.bollywoodlife.com/news-gossip/cabaret-first-look-richa-chaddas-sensuous-avatar-will-take-you-back-to-the-swinging-sixties/feed/0Cricketer S Sreesanth’s debut flick to be dubbed in 14 languages!http://www.bollywoodlife.com/news-gossip/cricketer-s-sreesanths-debut-flick-to-be-dubbed-in-14-languages/
http://www.bollywoodlife.com/news-gossip/cricketer-s-sreesanths-debut-flick-to-be-dubbed-in-14-languages/#respondThu, 06 Aug 2015 13:24:04 +0000http://www.bollywoodlife.com/?p=572535While the match fixing charges against him have been cleared by Delhi High Court, S Sreesanth’s acting career looks all set to take off

Fast bowler S Sreesanth’s life has been full of ups and downs. From being an emerging fast bowler to getting caught in match fixing racket, the eccentric cricketer’s life has always been high on drama.

After two years of trial, the Delhi High Court has finally dropped the match fixing charges on Sreesanth and now he is all set to make his acting debut in a big budget South Indian film. Known for his dancing skills, the ex-Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa contestant Sreesanth has been signed to star in director Sana Yadireddy’s trilingual flick.

With the film set to go on floors on September, Sreesanth said,” This is my debut film in South and I am going to work with a big filmmaker like Sana Yadireddy. I can’t ask for more. I am looking forward for a good acting career in South.” Director Yadireddy said,” I have seen him performing at many events and always wanted to work with him. When we narrated the story, he liked it very much and gave his nod immediately. The film will be in the backdrop of cricket and has a very good love story in it.”

It is also being said that this Tamil-Telugu-Malayalam flick will be dubbed in 14 languages and the makers are currently looking for an actress to play the leading lady.

Several filmmakers have criticised the working and viability of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), but actress-filmaker Pooja Bhatt says the film industry itself has a lot of growing up to do.
“The film industry is still like a child. The number of people you need to fight within your own community before you even get to that stage (the censor board) is not funny. So, I think that there is a lot of growing up that not only the censor board has to do, but first the film industry has to do,” Pooja told IANS in an interview.

The CBFC has over the years faced flak for banning films like Unfreedom and for issuing diktats on film content or statutory warnings.

The actress, who has always stayed ahead of time with her bold yet impactful cinema through Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin, Sadak, Sir, Zakhm and Tamanna, added that members of film fraternity should join hands over issues instead of concentrating on “own battles” alone.

“We only fight our own battles… I think somewhere along the line, we need to kind of understand that,” added the daughter of acclaimed filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt.

Pooja began her journey in the film industry as an actress with 1989 film, Daddy and later stepped into direction in 2004 with Paap. She continued to direct movies like Holiday, Dhokha, Kajraare and Jism 2, and even produced movies.

In the late 1980s and 1990s, the actress-producer was considered one of the boldest of her time thanks to her controversial body paint act at the age of 17 for late fashion photographer Gautam Rajadhyaksha. And that boldness transpired into her films as well.

Even though bold content seems to be the order of the day in Bollywood, 43-year-old Pooja conceded that the audience was always ready for bold and experimental subjects.

“When we did Jism or Sadak, people said that it won’t work. But it did and who accepted it? The audience did. The audience was always ready; it is the people making the movies who believe that they are not ready. We need to grow up,” she said.

Pooja is also now ready to face the camera again. She says she will pick roles that suit her and that she won’t try to mould herself into some glossy image.

“I would like to play a woman who is my age and who looks exactly like me right now. I don’t want to pretend to be a 25-year-old girl or a 32-year-old woman. And I also want to do something I have never done before — say something evil or sexual,” she added.

On the production front, she is occupied with her next project Cabaret, in which Richa Chadha plays the lead along with former cricketer S. Sreesanth.

Cricketer S Sreesanth is gearing up to make his big filmi debut with Pooja Bhatt’s Cabaret directed by Kaustav Narayan Niyogi. The film that stars Richa Chadda in the lead will see the cricketer in a significant role.

As reported by a leading daily, it was Sonu Lakhwani, the executive producer, who suggested Sreesanth’s name and showed a wedding photo of the latter to Pooja. Since the role was that of a Malayali mentor to Richa, Pooja immediately approached Sreesanth and locked him with a signing amount of Rs 5 lakhs.

Pooja confirmed the news to the daily saying, “Sreesanth speaks Hindi with a slight Malayali accent and that’s just what I was looking for. Initially, we had thought of casting an elderly actor as Richa’s mentor but once I met him, the dynamics changed. His look in the film is the same as that of his wedding picture Sonu showed me. Having Sreesanth in the film is a win-win situation; those who love him will watch the film, those who hate him will also come to see him. He is at an interesting phase in life.”

Looks like Sreesanth is all set to leave his spot-fixing controversy behind with Cabaret, which is slated to go on floors in January 2015.

]]>http://www.bollywoodlife.com/news-gossip/sreesanth-mentors-richa-chadda-in-cabaret/feed/0IPL spot-fixing accused Ajit Chandila to be a part of Salman Khan’s Bigg Boss 8?http://www.bollywoodlife.com/news-gossip/ipl-spot-fixing-accused-ajit-chandila-to-be-a-part-of-salman-khans-bigg-boss-8/
http://www.bollywoodlife.com/news-gossip/ipl-spot-fixing-accused-ajit-chandila-to-be-a-part-of-salman-khans-bigg-boss-8/#respondWed, 10 Sep 2014 07:22:43 +0000http://www.bollywoodlife.com/?p=395407The cricketer was a part of the Rajasthan Royals team in IPL when accused for spot-fixing

While many names are doing the rounds for the final list of contestants on Salman Khan’s Bigg Boss 8, the latest to join this highly anticipated list is cricketer Ajit Chandila. He was the prime accused for spot-fixing in the Indian Premier League (IPL) last year along with S. Sreesanth and Ankeet Chavan.

Ajit was a part of the Rajasthan Royals team in IPL which is co-owned by Shilpa Shetty Kundra and her businessman hubby Raj Kundra. We wonder if this young player will spill a few beans about his team co-owners, considering that Raj was accused for involvement in illegal betting.

The source also states that along with Ajit, another IPL player is likely to be a part of this controversial reality show. However, the second name is still a mystery. Will it be Sreesanth, Ankit or someone else? Stay tuned to this space for more updates on Bigg Boss 8!

]]>http://www.bollywoodlife.com/news-gossip/ipl-spot-fixing-accused-ajit-chandila-to-be-a-part-of-salman-khans-bigg-boss-8/feed/0Bigg Boss 8: Ankita Lokhande, Inder Kumar, Shanti Dynamite to be locked up inside the house?http://www.bollywoodlife.com/news-gossip/bigg-boss-8-ankita-lokhande-inder-kumar-shanti-dynamite-to-be-locked-up-inside-the-house/
http://www.bollywoodlife.com/news-gossip/bigg-boss-8-ankita-lokhande-inder-kumar-shanti-dynamite-to-be-locked-up-inside-the-house/#commentsFri, 01 Aug 2014 07:49:34 +0000http://www.bollywoodlife.com/?p=380869The makers of the high voltage reality show are putting in their best efforts to make this season more controversial

All the speculations regarding the host of Bigg Boss 8 came to an end when we exclusively told you that Salman Khan is indeed returning to host the scandalous show. However, the media circuit has been abuzz with rumours, as far as the contestants are concerned. And like every year, the makers are following a specific pattern of the housemates this time around as well

and we’ll, certainly, be seeing forgotten Bollywood actors, TV soap actors, foreign imports and models to name a few. So while the makers are busy deciding, we at BollywoodLife thought of giving them a helping hand. Here are a few suggestions from us as to who should get locked inside the house of horrors…

Sportsperson – While Sangram Singh played a good game in the previous season, this year, we would like to see former cricketer and Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 7 contestant S Sreesanth. The man has been through a heck lot of controversies and would definitely make for a great contestant.

Forgotten Bollywood actors – There are a lot of people who came to our collective minds under this category, but we chose Zarine Khan, Kim Sharma and Inder Kumar. While the ladies will add the glamour, the man, who is known to be Salman’s close buddy was recently accused of raping a model. Talk about being malicious.

Singer –Ankit Tiwari, who took the nation by storm with his soulful songs in Aashiqui 2 and Ek Villain can be locked up inside the house. Also the singer was accused of raping a girl… a definite winner.

Wannabe sexy – Poonam Pandey has been posting semi nude pictures of her on Twitter from ages now. Agree or not, this, undoubtedly is a show for the Bigg Boss. While last season, she refused to be on the show, we won’t be surprised at all if we see her in the house this year. Also Playboy girl Shanti Dynamite has been grabbing the headlines since quite a few time. So she can also fill in this cate

A couple – While we would have loved to see a married couple, but not many want to see too much of romance inside the Bigg Boss house. So why not have divorced and separated couples like Rashami Desai-Nandish Sandhu and Gaurav Chopra-Narayani Shastri. Now it would be interesting to see love between such couples, hai na?

Newsmakers –Rabiya Khan, mother of late actress Jiah Khan was apparently approached last year to be on the show, but she refused. However, we would surely love to see her this season and may be, reveal a few murder mysteries.

Comedian – While everyone is wanting to see Sunil Grover inside the house, we most definitely are not. We’d rather he stays in Kapil Sharma’s Comedy Nights with Kapil. We were thinking more on lines of someone like Bharti Singh making the contestants and of course Salman Khan laugh their lungs out.

Model – Bigg Boss without good-looking models is just incomplete. So while Gauahar Khan filled in this category last year, this season we can have Rajneesh Duggal. A perfect chick magnet. And Nina Davuluri, who was attacked with racist comments soon after winning the title of Miss America 2014, can join Rajneesh under this category.

Politician –Tapas Pal, who is a Bengali actor and MP from Krishnanagar is said to have a violent streak. The man has apparently caught on videos threatning the workers of the rival parties. Now that’ll take care of the violence quota this season.

Spiritual person –Swami Nityanand. The man is virtually described as a Godman, but his scandalous acts say otherwise. This “guru” was caught on camera, engaging in sexual acts with a lady, allegedly Tamil actress Ranjitha. Hmmm! Interesting.

Soap actors – Like models, Bigg Boss without TV soap actors is just not happening. History say it all. The winner of the last four seasons was a TV actor. For this year, Tina Dutta, Gautam Rode and Ankita Lokhande look like good candidates. We’ve seen their goody-two-shoes characters onscreen. Now it’ll be interesting to see the real them in the house.

Foreign import – The media circuit has been abuzz with rumours about Salman Khan‘s alleged girlfriend Iulia Vantur being in Bigg Boss 8. And if the rumours are indeed true, then she will definitely be worth watching. We don’t need to mention reasons over here, we suppose.

]]>http://www.bollywoodlife.com/news-gossip/bigg-boss-8-ankita-lokhande-inder-kumar-shanti-dynamite-to-be-locked-up-inside-the-house/feed/1Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 7 eliminated contestant Sreesanth blames bad day for his outburst on the show!http://www.bollywoodlife.com/news-gossip/jhalak-dikhhla-jaa-7-eliminated-contestant-sreesanth-blames-bad-day-for-his-outburst-on-the-show/
http://www.bollywoodlife.com/news-gossip/jhalak-dikhhla-jaa-7-eliminated-contestant-sreesanth-blames-bad-day-for-his-outburst-on-the-show/#respondSun, 13 Jul 2014 03:50:30 +0000http://www.bollywoodlife.com/?p=372181The former cricketer lost his cool when was eliminated from the dance reality show

Former Indian pacer Sreesanth said his outburst on Jhalak Dikhla Jaa 7 was due to a back injury and a bad performance during the face-off which saw him being eliminated from the Indian dance reality show.

The 31-year-old cricketer, who was in the bottom two and was in the face-off round with Puja Banerjee, had an argument with celebrity judges Madhuri Dixit, Remo D’Souza and Karan Johar after they pointed out flaws in his performance.

“The outburst was more because of the disappointment than anger as I was doing extremely well on the show during the past six weeks. I think I just had a bad day. It was wrong timing and wrong choice of song,” Sreesanth told PTI.

He said he could not dance to his full potential as he sustained an injury in his back just minutes ahead of his performance. He was also surprised that this week’s elimination round was shot first, which does not happen normally.

“I was in the face-off and I had injured my back badly and there was a complete black out. I was in extreme pain and could not concentrate. May be if I had got a 5-minute break I could have performed better. I have to accept it as the contract says that you have to leave when you are eliminated,” he said.

“In previous episodes the elimination round was shot in the end. This time the crew decided to shoot my act first, which was planned for later part of the episode. I was not prepared for this change of plan,” he said.

Sreesanth, who is banned for life by the BCCI for his alleged involvement in spot-fixing in IPL, said the show has helped him regain his lost self-confidence.

“I found that self-confidence again. It was a great confidence booster for me. I feel I was good on the show and I had set my own standard. I missed being in a competitive scenario for past several months and this show gave me a chance to compete again,” he said.

Kerela-born Sreesanth said his wife Bhuvneshwari Kumari is disheartened with his elimination as she was expecting him to win the show.

“She loved it absolutely but she is disheartened that I could not be on the show till the end. She would have loved to see me as the winner,” he said.

The sportsman said he is not sure about doing more reality shows and is now looking forward to his Tamil-Telegu bilingual film Anbulla Azagae, which will go on floors in October. Sreesanth is also composing music for the youth-based film.

“I am not sure about doing other reality shows. But I am excited about Anbulla Azagae. I had thought that I would be on ‘Jhalak’ till the end so I had asked the makers to begin the film in October. Now, I will just have to wait for it as the film cannot be preponed,” Sreesanth said.

S Sreesanth’s journey on the seventh season of Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa has finally come to end. Yes, the former cricketer received the lowest number of votes which has resulted in his ouster from the show, which is judged by Madhuri Dixit, Karan Johar and Remo D’souza.

Surrounded with a lot of controversies, Sree took a bold step when he decided to be a contestant on JDJ 7. Starting with not so impressive performances, Sreesanth indeed made a good progress during his stint. His last week’s act however couldn’t impress the judges and of course the audiences, which is quite evident from his elimination. Although his stint in this dance reality show will indeed be something which we can’t forget.

Though Sreesanth might be out of the show, but we certainly would want to see this man on other reality shows.

]]>http://www.bollywoodlife.com/news-gossip/jhalak-dikhhla-jaa-7-elimination-s-sreesanth-evicted-from-the-show/feed/0Drashti Dhami to co-host Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 7 with Ranvir Shorey?http://www.bollywoodlife.com/news-gossip/drashti-dhami-to-co-host-jhalak-dikhhla-jaa-7-with-ranvir-shorey/
http://www.bollywoodlife.com/news-gossip/drashti-dhami-to-co-host-jhalak-dikhhla-jaa-7-with-ranvir-shorey/#commentsMon, 12 May 2014 07:00:53 +0000http://www.bollywoodlife.com/?p=345375The Madhubala: Ek Ishq Ek Junoon actor is said to be roped in to host the upcoming season of India’s loved celebrity dance reality show

We recently told you that Ranvir Shorey, who is currently seen in Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi 5 has been finalised to host the upcoming seventh season of Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa. And the makers of this celebrity dance reality show are on a lookout for a female co-host. Well, looks like, they have finally found one. It’s none other than Drashti Dhami. Yes, if the recent reports are to be believed then Drashti, who won the previous season of JDJ, will host the upcoming season along with Ranvir.

Earlier it was reported that comedian Bharti Singh will be Mr Shorey’s hosting partner, however looks like those were just plain rumours.

Well, if the reports are indeed true that Drashti will be hosting JDJ 7, it will be quite interesting to see the Madhubala: Ek Ishq Ek Junoon actor as the host, hai na?

Anyway, the 13 contestants, who will battle it out with each other this season are cricketer S Sreesanth, VJ Andy, Bollywood actors Purab Kohli and Sophie Choudry, TV actors Ashish Sharma, Karan Tacker, Kritika Kamra, Puja Banerjee, Mouni Roy, Kiku Sharda, Shakti Mohan and Akshat Singh, as well as singer Sukhwinder Singh.

Like last year, Madhuri Dixit, Karan Johar and Remo D’souza will judge the reality show.